This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art. This section provides a general summary of the disclosure, and is not a comprehensive disclosure of its full scope or all of its features.
It is common practice in automotive manufacturing settings to employ a crankshaft assembly system to assembly and/or balance a crankshaft for an engine. Generally, these crankshaft assembly systems include a pedestal support having a retractable arm to releasably retain a crankshaft on the pedestal support during processing. Such processing of the crankshaft can include drilling, shaving, mounting, tapping, and the like. Moreover, the processing of the crankshaft can be part of a balancing system for balancing the rotational mass of the crankshaft assembly.
According to the principles of the present teachings, a crankshaft balancer machine for balancing crankshafts is provided having advantageous constructions and method of operation. The crankshaft balancer machine includes a measurement station configured to rotate the crankshaft to obtain vibration-related data, a transfer station configured to transfer the crankshaft between the measurement station and the correction station, and a correction station configured to drill at least a portion of the crankshaft to correct an imbalance in response to the imbalance data. The measurement station includes a base structure, a measurement bridge support, a plurality of flexural support legs extending therebetween, at least one sensor, and a drive system to spin the crankshaft and output imbalance data. The transfer station includes at least one lifting arm selectively engaging the crankshaft and supporting the crankshaft during transfer. The correction station includes a drilling device horizontally disposed to achieve a horizontal drill direction into the crankshaft to correct any imbalance according to a customized software protocol.
Further areas of applicability will become apparent from the description provided herein. The description and specific examples in this summary are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
Corresponding reference numerals indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings.